Rebelling For Love
by LolaCherryColaGirl
Summary: "I need a rope, some kind of weapon and what do I get? A short redhead with attitude." "Hey I'm a Guardian of the Veil buddy, you're just some guy at the bottom of a hole." James is a rebel leader. Lily is a Guardian of the Veil. What will happen? AU
1. Lord WhoDeNow?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or W.I.T.C.H

**Summary: **Lily Evans doesn't know her and her best friend Tammy are magic until Dumbledore tells her they are guardians of the veil between the magic and the Muggle world and he needs them to rescue the captured rebel leader James Potter. Based loosely on WITCH.

**Rebelling For Love**

_Chapter one_

_**Lord Who-De-Now?**_

Lily Evans had just heard the bell ring, indicating their last class of this school year had come to an end when her best friend Tammy McGee jumped up from her seat, Britain's largest smile grazing her heart shaped face.

"It's over Lily! _O-ver_!" she repeated slowly and louder than before as Lily's lack of joyful dancing had made her think maybe she didn't get it. Tammy shoved all of the things lying on her table into her bag carelessly while Lily carefully marked a page in her book and started putting pencils, erasers and what not into her pencil case.

"Tay, please not so loud! Mr. Collins will hear you." Lily warned as she put her History book into her bag. Without really thinking about it she arranged her books after size. Tammy rolled her eyes when she and Lily walked out of the classroom side by side "Lily, he's a teacher! Believe me, he's heard kids being happy about summer holiday before."

Playing with the end of her braided, flaming red hair Lily snapped "I don't care, I'm going to miss Mr. Collins' classes _so _much."

Tammy rolled her brown eyes "How can you miss school? That's seriously twisted."

Despite of being best friends the two girls were very different. Even in looks.

Lily, like most other girls at their school, made sure to stay pale and delicate looking while Tammy never cared and spent so much time in the sun that her tan could last almost all year.

After brushing imaginary dirt off of her yellow cardigan, draped over her shoulders with a matching shirt beneath, Lily made sure the shirt was still tucked into her knee length, white skirt.

Tammy's faded, high-waist jeans had a hole by the right knee and her black t-shirt had a stain from her breakfast cereal. Her hair, the lightest of blonde colours, hung wild and wavy all the way down to her hips.

One of Lily's most striking features was her red hair, not the typical carrot like colour, but actual red. She kept it short, by her shoulders, and it was completely straight. She didn't really like her hair that much. It drew too much attention and Lily liked to remain somewhat anonymous.

Her other striking feature, especially combined with her fiery hair, were her shining emerald eyes. Tammy was envious of them as her own had a dull brown colour.

On their walk home from school the two girls discussed how they planned on spending their summer and of course they couldn't agree.

Lily liked to stay inside in her room while reading, drinking tea or listening to The Carpenters records with Tammy.

She, on the other hand, preferred to spend all of her time outside, preferably on the skateboard she had originally stolen from her older brother Tommy. When it became apparent that Tammy was much more talented on a skateboard she got to keep it.

Lily didn't blame her though, the original reason Tammy had stolen the skateboard was to run away from her broken home. Her father was a professional alcoholic and her mother regularly expressed her desire to become a lesbian and actually moved out at one point to live with a woman who shaved her head and on principle refused to wear high heels.

As soon as the romance had broken, Tammy's mom had moved back home. The only one left then was her brother who was practically never home and when he was he always hung out with a bunch of his friends who enjoyed teasing Tammy for her absolute lack of breasts but nevertheless pinched what little butt she had.

So Tammy made an art of becoming 'one of the guys' so they would leave her alone and also made sure to spend as little time as possible at home.

Lily on the other hand had the respectable family. Her father was an accountant who always did his work well and was a devoted father to his two daughters that had been nurtured well by his wife who was a stay-at-home mom.

Petunia, Lily's older sister, was already practically engaged to a boy from a 'good' family and the sisters never stirred any trouble in their little community. They had been very sisterly in their early childhood, but as soon as Lily's friendship with Tammy became closer and closer Petunia got jealous. They now tolerated each other.

On their very first day of school Lily showed up with her heart beating nervously, but never the less feeling safe from the simple knowledge of having a loving family and a stable life. But she lacked the confidence that Tammy could easily fake if she wasn't actually feeling it and the two had soon found each other.

Now they were both seventeen and had only one school year left together.

Lily often fretted over this. What should she do? Go to college, get a job or get married like her sister? She hated not knowing what was going to happen next and dreaded the end of high school.

Tammy on the other hand was looking forward to being out of school and had wild plans for her and Lily, all of them included herself moving out and into her own apartment or possibly even an old, haunted house if she had to.

The girls had reached Lily's house and Tammy persuaded her to stay outside for a little while. They threw their bags on the grass and sat down on the kerb of the street.

Once they had finished discussing every girl in their class's annoying habits, Lily diplomatically said something nice about each girl as well though she was reduced to uncontrollable giggling when Tammy complained about Shelby Mannings' insistence on not shaving, a man appeared.

He looked incomprehensibly old, with white hair flowing all the way down his back, and an equally long and white beard. Despite the sun he was wearing a dark suit and a long London Fog coat over it. He walked across the cobbled stone path leading to Lily's front door and knocked lightly on it.

Lily knew her mother would be out shopping for groceries for Petunia's graduation dinner to be held later that night so she stood up "Sir, can I help you?"

The man turned towards her and Lily gasped. His penetrating blue eyes looked younger than the rest of him, but still wise. They had a twinkle as the corner of his mouth twitched "I think you can young lady, I am looking for Lily Evans."

Tammy stayed seated looking between the two of them, it seemed like some sort of connection was made. Lily held her hand out for the man to shake "I'm Lily Evans, nice to meet you sir."

He gave her hand a squeeze before letting go "You too Miss Evans, you too. My name is Albus Dumbledore." he swept his hand out in a gesture for Lily to sit back down and she did, next to Tammy who chuckled "Dude, how pissed are you at your parents?"

Dumbledore cleared his throat "Quite, miss?"

"McGee, Tammy McGee."

"Ah, perfect." Dumbledore said, mysteriously content.

Lily blushed over Tammy's rude behaviour and her pale cheeks were tainted pink "Can I help you with something?"

Dumbledore moved his amused gaze from Tammy to Lily and suddenly looked more sombre "You can, Miss Evans. I am the Headmaster of a school named Hogwarts and I have something important to discuss with you."

Tammy grasped Lily's arm "Be careful, he's going to lure you into taking summer school!"

To Lily's relief Dumbledore merely chuckled at Tammy "I assure you Miss McGee, I mean to do nothing of the sort. May I?" he asked, gesturing towards the kerbstone and Lily nodded, half rising up to offer him support as he sat down, but he didn't seem to need it.

"What I am about to tell you young ladies, will seem impossible to you and I don't expect you to believe me straight away," he shook his right arm and smiled "but I can promise you I have some tricks up my sleeve."

Tammy took Lily's hand and leaned forward, curious as ever, awaiting a spectacular story even if the man had just escaped a mental institution "Now, where to begin. There is a world you are not aware of. It exists side by side with this world of non-magic people also known as Muggles. My world where magic is real and the centre of our attention will seem like something out of your fairytales. The reason you know nothing of it is because by birth we are sworn to secrecy, but of course that isn't enough so there is also a veil between the two worlds protecting us from each other."

Dumbledore paused dramatically while Tammy and Lily shot each other looks "Now like you have dictators and terrorists and general criminals, so do we I am saddened to tell you. We have one evil wizard especially, his name is Lord Voldemort and he has gained much power and many followers known as Death Eaters. He resents Muggles and anyone he believes to be of lesser blood than himself. He tortures and kills these people in cruel ways."

Swallowing audibly Tammy glanced from Lily to Dumbledore "Lord? You've got pretty low standards for knighthood over there."

With a sigh Dumbledore told her that the name was something he had chosen for himself.

Lily spoke for the first time since Dumbledore had begun his story "Sir, I don't mean to be rude, but how are we supposed to believe all of this? And why are you telling it?"

"Because," Dumbledore sighed again "because you two girls are an important part of what's to come. I have created an underground resistance group, the Order of The Phoenix, who is fighting back against this tyranny. Unfortunately my rebel leader has been caught and I can no longer ignore the legend that speaks of the powers that lies within you ladies."

"What legend?"

"Originally it spoke of five different women, each representing an element. Until they had all turned seventeen they'd lived like you have. But after that their slumbering magic awoke and naturally their powers developed. Some training was necessary of course, but nothing like the years of schooling we usually offer our young. These powers skip a generation and now you two are the only ones left, because if a wand of one of these five witches is broken they lose their power. Two of the witches fought to regain some magical ability, but the third one didn't break her wand in battle. She broke it herself voluntarily because she couldn't handle the pressure." Dumbledore looked at something far off while Lily and Tammy composed themselves.

"Now for the proof that this is not something I have made up," Dumbledore shook his right arm again and what looked like a stick fell out, "what would you like to see?"

Lily was too startled and lost in thought to speak, while Tammy for once didn't have anything to say either, so she simply shrugged and watched closely as Dumbledore flicked his wand and set the Evans family's mailbox on fire. But it didn't actually burn and when Dumbledore took Lily's hand in his and steered it towards the flames she ignored her impulse to draw it back and watched in awe as the flames closed around her hand, but felt like nothing more than a warm breeze.

"That is insane!" Tammy declared, poking at the mailbox.

Dumbledore looked pleased "It works every time. Now Miss McGee I have your wand here if you will take it." He brought out a dusty, square box as if from nowhere and Tammy narrowed her eyes at it "You brought me a stick? Gee, thanks."

"Look," Lily threw her hands in the hair "this is all too much. The thing with the mailbox was impressive, but I can't just leave my family and go traipsing into a magical world to save some rebel leader I've never met and is not entirely sure exists."

"That's what worries you? What about that evil guy, Lord Who-De-Now?"

"Voldemort." Dumbledore corrected Tammy "I thought you might react this way. If you open the box Miss McGee you will find a letter in it from your grandmother along with the, ah, stick."

Tammy tore the box open and began reading, her back turned to Dumbledore and Lily.

"Now for you Miss Evans, I know some years ago you were led to believe that your grandmother Rose passed away, but that is because wizards and witches live much longer than Muggles. She is waiting for you at our headquarter."

Lily's emerald eyes widened "My grandmother is alive?" she glanced at Tammy and noticed her shoulders shaking, guessing it was not the case for her.

"She is. As the only living of the last Guardians of the Veil she will be training you along with two other young women, the descendants of two other Guardians. Because their wands were snapped Miss Meadowes and Miss McKinnon's powers will not be as forceful as yours, but they are remarkable students."

"I'm in!" Tammy declared, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand and soundlessly demanding that Lily ignore her red eyes and runny nose.

Although she was eager to see her grandmother again, Lily still hesitated. Tammy was more than willing to leave her family behind, but Lily wasn't sure she could go without hers.

As if he had read her thoughts Dumbledore assured her that she would be able to return to them and explained that both she and Tammy would be provided a place to live in the magical world.

"Lily, that letter is real. We have to go and help." Tammy pleaded and more it persuaded her more than anything Dumbledore could have said.

"Alright, I'll come with you. But I'm not making any final decision until I've seen my grandmother." Lily insisted and Dumbledore agreed to her terms before pulling out an old soda can with a light glow and urging them to hold on to it.

Tammy glanced furtively at Lily "Even though I'm starting to believe him about the magic thing, I'm still not convinced he's not crazy."

Dumbledore smiled as the world swivelled and disappeared around them until Tammy and Lily landed in a mess of flailing limbs in what they thought was a park. Dumbledore graciously landed on his feet and offered them both a hand.

"I'm changing my mind," Tammy gasped out of breath after the hard fall "_that _was insane. What if I had broken my stick?" She pointed a blaming finger at Dumbledore who chuckled.

Lily tried to rub the grass stains of her white skirt and drew her cardigan over her bare arms. The sky was darker here and the air chillier. Strangely that was the thing mostly on her mind, because when she looked around they still seemed to be in Britain.

Hanging his coat over her shoulders Dumbledore waved his hand, taking in the sky and their surroundings in one movement "Lord Voldemort's fault I'm sad to say, this depressing weather is reflecting the state of our world."

"I didn't see that anywhere in the brochure." Tammy grumbled and examined her arm for bruises "Where are we anyways?"

"Portishead, near Bristol," Dumbledore clarified "more specifically the Potters' manor, kindly lent to the Order of the Phoenix to use as our headquarter."

The girls turned around and then noticed the giant mansion with Greek columns, fountains, an iron-gate and a large terrace. Warm, inviting light shone from some of the many windows.

Letting out a low whistle Tammy said "I should've gone here sooner."

"No," Lily swallowed audibly "we should've packed!"

**A/N: **Please leave a review and tell me what you think!


	2. Constant Vigilance

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or W.I.T.C.H

**Rebelling For Love**

_Chapter Two_

**Constant Vigilance**

"I don't have any clothes, any of my books, money, a toothbrush." Lily was starting to get into a state of panic and Dumbledore patiently let her finish before trying to calm her down "Tulip will help you with all that once we get inside."

"Tulip?"

"One of the Potters' house elves."

"House elves?"

"Let's just go inside." Dumbledore ushered the girls towards the manor, but Lily was still fretting "I just left my parents without a word. They have no idea where I am, they're going to worry!"

"My parents don't know where I am either, they're not going to worry." Tammy shrugged.

Lily glared at her "That was not funny."

"I wasn't trying to be."

The girls kept bickering until they reached the house and Dumbledore let them in through a backdoor to a kitchen where tiny creatures with huge eyes and pointy ears shuffled around, cooking, doing laundry or taking care of other practical chores.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say these are either house elves or walking, talking tennis balls on a caffeine high." Tammy commented before they were introduced to Tulip, a helpful little elf who had already been instructed to send letters to Lily and Tammy's families, as if written by them from the summer camp they were supposedly attending.

She got a list from each girl of the things they needed from their home and with a small 'pop' disappeared to pack for them.

"I'm dizzy." Lily complained, sinking onto a barstool and hiding her head in her hands. Tammy curiously looked around the kitchen and tried chatting with a few house elves to learn more about this new world.

"Lily?" a small, but firm voice rang through the kitchen and Lily immediately recognized it and looked up "Grandma!" she jumped off the stool and ran straight into the embrace of short, white-haired woman with emerald green eyes.

Tammy waved, but then followed Dumbledore out of the kitchen to give them some privacy.

"You're really here." Lily cried, hugging her grandmother tighter and enjoying the way she still smelled the same and the comfort she could still give her just by stroking her hair gently.

"Yes, my dear. And I wish I could've shared all of this with you sooner. But for your sake it was better that you didn't know. You weren't ready until now." Rose said, rocking Lily back and forth.

"Ready for what?" Lily sniffled.

"For the responsibility of being a Guardian of the Veil." Rose explained and hesitantly let go of her "Let's bring Tammy, Marlene and Dorcas in here. It's time I told you girls a story."

Once the girls had said hello to each other and were all benched around a dining table with a hot cup of tea, Rose began her tale "There has always been a veil between the Muggle world and the magical, and many years ago when the city of Meridian was taken over by dark wizards another veil was created to separate them from our world and especially the Muggle world. But with the rise of Lord Voldemort the veil has gotten less powerful, thinner if you want."

"I want to wake up." Tammy whispered.

"Portals have begun to open in the veil, doorways through which evil can cross between worlds. There are people called Guardians, whose job it is to close these holes using their powers. I became a Guardian when I was your age and I helped close portals when Grindelwald was gaining power. But the duty is now passing to your generation."

She paused to make time for the information to sink in, but when neither of the girls spoke, Rose continued while holding up a pink crystal "This is the heart of Kandrakar, our name for a universe embracing both the Muggle and Magic world, it contains the elementary forces of nature. In the last few days, you have all had unusual experiences. Am I right?"

Tammy raised an eyebrow "It depends, does this count?"

"The four of you should be starting to notice extraordinary abilities. Tammy, have you noticed water behaving strangely around you?" Rose nodded her head at the teacup in front of Tammy and when she tapped it with the tip of her wand, a small maelstrom was created. Until it took over and the tea spilled out onto the table.

"Dorcas, I know you've always been scared of fire, but try concentrating on the candle. It will be harder for you and Marlene, but give it try." Rose asked and Dorcas pointed her wand at the candle on the table with a look of deep concentration. After a while she set a banana on fire.

"You Marlene, were given the power of the Earth." Rose began explaining, but Marlene didn't let her finish before pointing her wand at a potted plant on the table, instantly making it grow.

"Hah, I'm a natural." She proudly exclaimed, but unfortunately right after she said it, the plant had grown too much and the vase it was in splintered to pieces.

Shooting her a stern look, Rose continued "Air is not with you. Cassidy broke her wand willingly and her children were not blessed with magic. Now you dear Lily, are the keeper of Kandrakar's heart. You unite the Guardians and possess a bit of each element."

The crystal glowed and tugged at the leather string it was bound to, eager to get to Lily, sensing it was being passed on from Rose who had been the last keeper of the heart.

In silent awe Lily took the heart, but it slipped out of her hands and fell to the floor, rolling away from them.

Rose sighed "All four of you will get better with your powers. I hope."

Dorcas shook her head "Uh, recap? We've got to protect the world from evil by repairing holes in the veil?"

Marlene were studying her nails, making sure she hadn't gotten them dirty when practicing her newly discovered Earth powers "This doesn't involve sowing, does it?"

"I've only known you ten minutes, but I can tell we're destined to become great friends." Tammy remarked.

"Sarcasm is her other power. That's not recent though, it's been with her since kindergarten." Lily explained, ignoring that Tammy used her wand to flick tea at her. She hung the heart of Kandrakar around her neck and when Rose got out her wand and passed it onto her, Lily's hands shook.

"What's Kindergarten?" Dorcas wondered and Marlene shrugged while Tammy tried to explain it, realizing that her world was as mysterious to them as theirs was to her.

"Why didn't we learn any of this at Hogwarts?" Marlene wanted to know, dropping her nail file.

"Dumbledore is usually not one to hold information back you know, but he thought it was the best way." Rose told her and Marlene and Dorcas nodded understandingly with a sense of respect Lily and Tammy didn't understand yet.

They were about to ask why everyone spoke of Dumbledore with so much esteem, but just then Tulip returned with suitcases for Lily and Tammy who eagerly looked through them to see if they'd gotten everything.

"Thank god!" they both burst out at the same time, Lily holding up her toothbrush while Tammy clutched her skateboard.

Tammy giggled "Lily, how are you going to fight evil in those skirts and sweater sets?"

"Oh don't listen to her," Marlene stood up to show off her figure in her long skirt and tiny, strappy top that revealed her bellybutton "looking good is as important as anything else."

"What? No it isn't!" Tammy argued, but before it could get any further a large group of people entered the kitchen asking the house elves for tea and sandwiches while heading for the roaring fireplace.

Dumbledore had come back inside the kitchen as well and asked if everything had gone like planned. Men and women nodded and filled in details about a mission they had apparently just come back from, but two young boys broke free of the group.

One of them was skinny with long limbs, sandy blonde hair and a wearied expression while the other was tall, bulky and devastatingly beautiful with long black hair and captivating grey eyes. Rain was pooling at their feet while they lobbied for Dumbledore's attention "Is James back yet?" the beautiful one finally managed to ask.

When Dumbledore shook his head he looked disappointed and stomped out of the room. Marlene pointed at the door he'd just slammed shut "That is Sirius Black. His family is full of dark wizards and last year he cut himself off from them and moved in here with his friend James."

Tammy looked up from her wand with an interested expression "He just cut off his family?"

"Yeah, it was quite the scandal." Marlene gushed.

Just after she'd said it Sirius came back inside, said some things to the sandy haired boy and then headed towards the group of girls at the table, looking at Lily and Tammy "New recruits?" he wanted to know, while his friend politely introduced himself as Remus Lupin.

"Actually they're Guardians, like us." Marlene boasted proudly.

Sirius eyed the two new girls suspiciously "You're the Guardians of the Veil we've been waiting for? You look like you couldn't kill a fly."

"If the fly is plotting to take over the world and killing innocent people you don't want to see what I can do with a flyswatter." Tammy insisted. Against his will Sirius smiled "Oh really?"

"Yeah, in fact less can do it, sometimes annoyingly arrogant boys are enough to set me off." She crossed her arms and refused to break eye contact.

Remus stifled a yawn "Have either of you seen Peter?"

Dorcas looked up from the charred banana, as if she'd been expecting it to tell her what went wrong, to answer him "Yes, he's staying with his mum for a bit again. It seems she doesn't have much time left."

Tammy let her arms drop and she and Lily drew back from the conversation, giving them some space and whispering to each other their thoughts about the whole thing so far.

"When do you think we'll get more information about that rebel leader we're supposed to save?" Tammy asked and Lily said she had no clue "Hopefully they'll teach us more about our powers before putting someone's fate in our hands."

"Right, you literally dropped the ball earlier." Tammy snickered and Lily turned her nose up at her.

Rose walked over to them "I think it's time you girls got some sleep. Tomorrow morning you're going to practice your powers."

"Good idea grandma, where do we sleep?"

Given the size of the Potter manor it shouldn't be too difficult to find somewhere for them, but no one was sure exactly which bedrooms were available. The Potters had generously extended their home to the Order, but kept the hallway with their bedrooms private. Mrs. Potter kindly agreed to let them use two empty bedrooms across from James and Sirius' rooms. Remus had been offered a room of his own, but he bunked with Sirius and the two walked Lily and Tammy upstairs, helping them with their luggage.

"So where is your friend James?" Tammy wondered. He'd been mentioned a lot, but clearly wasn't present.

Sirius opened one bedroom door while Remus showed Lily into another "We don't know, some days ago he left for a secret mission and I haven't heard anything since. I might go look for him soon though, if no one tells me anything." He set her trunk down and wished her goodnight before Tammy had a chance to respond.

Lily was happy that Remus didn't chat too much. She was exhausted and scared and excited and confused all at once and seriously in need of sleep. She hung up a few dresses that she didn't want to get wrinkled, brushed her teeth at the little sink next to the closet, and slipped on her nightgown all the while keeping the heart of Kandrakar around her neck and her wand slipped under her pillow.

After tossing and turning for only ten minutes, unable to relax enough after the events and discoveries of the day to fall asleep Lily suddenly heard her balcony door being opened from the outside. Startled she shrieked, before grabbing her wand and instinctively she knew to say '_Fuego' _to make a ball of fire shoot at the intruder.

Luckily Tammy responded by yelling _'Aguamenti' _and moved her wand so she drew a wall of water in front of her, blocking Lily's attack.

"What are you doing in here?" Lily yelled, clutching the crystal around her neck.

Tammy was trying to catch her breath after the scare "Oh you know, my room was cold so I thought I'd come in here and let you _set me on fire_!"

"I didn't do it on purpose … I think." Lily apologetically drew her shoulders.

"I don't think I did either. All night I've been waving this stick around and nothing! At least it chose the right time to work." Tammy decided before looking at the floor in front of her. There was a scorch mark and a pool of water "Do you know a dry-spell?" she snickered at her own pun.

"Just put a towel down." Lily moved her comforter aside to step out of bed and get a towel, while Tammy crossed her arms "I meant for me, I seriously think I wet my pants."

Rolling her eyes, Lily soaked up the water "You're not wearing pants." It was true, Tammy always slept in an old, worn t-shirt that went all the way down to her knees "What are you doing in here?"

"Isn't it obvious? We're leaving, right?" Tammy tugged at Lily's suitcase and was surprised to see her hesitate.

"Why would we leave?" Lily sat back down on her bed "I mean, it may all be unbelievable, but I'm not losing my grandmother again."

It was a new situation for the girls that Lily was the one stubbornly insisting on an adventure, while Tammy wanted to call it quits "I get that, but this is all just too strange. And that Lord Voldymark guy does not sound pleasant."

"And so what if we leave? We're part of a legend, and sooner or later Lord Voldemort will attack the Muggle world as well. Then where are you going to hide?"

"Don't you mean our world?" Tammy tried to correct her, not believing that Lily had already situated herself in the strange situation.

"I mean … what I mean." Lily declared.

"Clever."

"Well, it's late."

"True. Can I sleep in here then?

"Fine," Lily made room for Tammy in the bed and blew out the candle on her bedside table "but it's straight to sleep and no hogging the covers."

Safely tucked in next to Lily it didn't take long for Tammy to drift off, and while Lily did feel better having her there, sleep still didn't claim her. She twirled the pink crystal between her fingers and thought she could see entire tales of past Guardians in its reflection.

0o0

"Our security has been breached!" Lily's door was kicked open the next morning, so early it was still dark out, and Sirius grabbed a dress from one of the hangers and threw it to her on the bed.

"We think your friend may have been kidnapped. She's not in her room, but all of her things are still there. McGonagall and Moody are checking the perimeters to see which spells have been broken, but get up. Moody wants you to go back to the Muggle world and see if her family knows anything." Sirius tapped his foot impatiently while Lily yawned.

Tammy poked her head out from under the covers, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand "What's going on?"

Sirius threw his hands in the air, exclaimed "Girls!" and left the room.

Picking up her wristwatch from the nightstand, Tammy groaned "Five-thirty? That boy has serious problems." She threw the watch away and buried her head in her pillow.

Lily swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched before getting up "Actually I think we have problems, apparently they sent out a search team because you weren't in your room. Let's get dressed, Grandma wants us to practice this morning and I want to have time for breakfast."

Tammy stomped her foot "It's summer!" she whined. But she did leave for her room while Lily held two dresses up in front of the mirror, wanting to make a good impression on the other Order members staying at the Potter manor.

When Tammy knocked, dressed in her usual cutoff jeans and a blue fringed t-shirt, Lily had only just decided that a skirt may be more practical and put on an A-lined, woolen skirt in purple with a white, short sleeved silk shirt. She put the Heart of Kandrakar inside the shirt so nothing would happen to it and put her wand in her pocket.

Tammy had used her wand to twist her long, unruly hair into a bun.

Together they found their way to the kitchen and pretended not to notice some people were glaring at them while they got a piece of buttered toast and a hardboiled egg.

"Does this look cooked to you?" Dorcas held up a fork with a pierced piece of carrot on it. Her brown hair was parted into two braids and she wore a denim shirt with shorts in mustard yellow.

Marlene had also put up her waist long, straight blonde hair and like last night she was wearing another long, wrap-around skirt with a tiny string belt and a mint-green, short strappy top "Dorcas, it's a carrot. The only way it can harm you is if you're mugged by bunnies."

"Constant vigilance!" a scarred man yelled from across the kitchen, his back turned to the group of girls.

Dorcas looked frightened, but when the man turned around both his normal eye and a twirling one of glass focused on Tammy "Young lady, that's not a place to keep a wand!" he glared at her hairstyle.

When Tammy tried to discreetly pull her wand free it had tangled in her curls and there was a terrifying moment when she tugged repeatedly and little sparks flew from the tip of the wand. When she finally got it out she stuck it in the back pocket of her jeans "Thanks for letting me know."

Moody looked at the wand poking up from the back pocket and rolled his eyes, one of them kept rolling, before throwing his hands in the air, exclaiming "Newbies!" and moving to leave the kitchen.

"Alastor." A regal looking woman with her hair pulled back tightly and dressed in bottle green robes crossed her arms and glared over her glasses at the man who growled "You'll do best to treat our new Guardians politely."

Some of the witches and wizards in the kitchen suddenly looked at Lily and Tammy with awe while Moody grumbled under his breath "Better wizards than them have lost their buttocks."

With a panicked expression Tammy drew out the wand from her back pocket and settled for holding it with reverence while the regal looking woman approached them "Hello, I'm Minerva McGonagall. You must be Miss Evans and Miss McGee."

"Hey." Tammy nodded.

McGonagall scrutinized her with a stern expression "That is not a proper way to greet someone young lady."

Tammy did a mock curtsy "Well I'm sorry I thought we were in some kind of war, not a finishing school."

McGonagall drew in breath, but Moody fixated his magical eye upon her "Minerva, you'll do best to treat our new Guardians politely."

Her lips tightened up into a thin line "Black, Lupin, Pettigrew, get over here." she demanded.

"Peter is still with his mother, Professor." Remus explained and Sirius followed in tow, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes "And Professor, I was wondering if you've heard from James or,"

"Potter is still out on his mission, Black." McGonagall cut him off and handed the two boys some papers "You're on Hogsmeade duty today. A lot of Hogwarts students are staying there for some days, it's vulnerable for an attack. Take Longbottom with you, two of you will be in the Three Broomsticks at all time, tell people you're there to see Madam Rosmerta, every once in a while one of you tours the shops and keep an eye out for anything out of norm and report it if you overhear something suspicious."

The boys walked away with their assignment and more people came to McGonagall to find out what their missions would be. Lily felt a chill, she was realizing that these people really were in a war and she was surprised to find out that more than being scared, she wanted to help.

Lily strode over to McGonagall "What is our assignment for today?"

She flipped through some of her papers "You and the other Guardians will be staying here for the day, training with your grandmother." Before Lily had time to ask where and how, McGonagall had moved on to someone else.

Tammy didn't look pleased "How come everyone gets to contribute and we'll be stuck here all day?"

McGonagall overheard her and crossed her arms with an exhausted expression "Guardians." she sighed and left the kitchen, having handed out all of the missions.

"Considering how long they've been waiting for us I'm feeling very unpopular this morning." Tammy pretended to feel a chill.

Marlene threw her ponytail over her shoulder "Something tells me you're used to that."

Before an argument could break out between the two of them Dorcas rose from her seat with her hands up in surrender "Can we please not fight? I'm nervous enough as it is." She looked pale and sickly and Lily couldn't help but think that she wouldn't last long in practice, let alone in a real fight.

She wasn't feeling too confident herself either, the only display of power she'd shown so far was nearly setting Tammy on fire, but when Rose entered to kitchen to fetch them she was the image of calm and it helped Lily's nerves.

Rose led them out into the garden where obstacles and practice tools had been set up for them on the lawn. Marlene and Dorcas, who already mastered basic spells, were practicing anything they could think of relating to their elements.

Lily and Tammy were practicing everything from levitation to protective spells and while it didn't prove too much of a struggle for them, they were most in touch with their magic when they were under pressure. Like when Marlene misjudged and accidentally sent a rock flying straight at Lily, she immediately cast a _Protego._

It was well into the afternoon by the time they took a break and were served tea and sandwiches by the house elves. Tammy stuffed herself with food "All of this really takes it out of you, what are we doing next?"

Setting down her cup, Rose folded her hands "You are going to unite."

Marlene and Tammy looked warily at each other "Unite?"

Rose put a hand weathered from age over Lily's "Take out the Heart, dear."

Lily clutched the necklace in her hand. All day it had been pleasantly warm against her skin and glowing more brightly, as if the magic she had practiced was feeding it. She pulled it over her head and held it out for all of them to see.

"Now stand up, all four of you." Rose commanded and the girls did as they were told, scrambling chairs around and glancing uncertainly from one to the other.

"Now stretch out your arm with the Heart Lily and say the words '_Guardians, unite'_." Rose instructed and Lily drew a deep breath, hoping her voice wouldn't be too shaky. She could sense something big was about to happen.

"Guardians, unite." The crystal floated out of her hand, glowing brighter and spinning around in the air. Immediately Lily felt as if pure energy swirled around her until she consumed it. For Tammy it felt like vitalizing water, but she didn't get wet. Dorcas felt the warmth from fire, but she didn't burn. Marlene had leaves and cool, nurturing dirt around her, but when their transformation was through she looked as clean as before.

Rose wiped away a single tear.

"What have we got behind us?" Tammy exclaimed joyfully and turned a circle around herself like a dog chasing its tail.

Marlene ignored her "What have we got in front of us?" she was looking down and true enough their bodies had changed. They looked older with more female curves.

Chuckling, Rose explained "It's the past of the legend; it resides within the Heart until you unite. Now you embody it."

With an impressed expression Marlene nodded "That's some legend."

"They're wings!" Tammy drew the attention back to herself, waving her arms "We've got wings!"

Lily looked at the scaly, green pixie wings that had seemingly grown out of their backs "They can't be wings. If they were wings, when we went like this," she concentrated on her new muscles and made her wings flap "we'd, aaah!" she yelled as she suddenly hovered above ground.

Tammy and Marlene tried it as well while Dorcas let out a heavy sigh "Oh man. I hate heights. I get woozy in high-heeled shoes."

Their bodies weren't the only things that had changed; their clothes had also been altered. Lily's sleeves were flowing around her arms now and her skirt was shorter with slits up the side, all of it helped her to move better.

"You know," Tammy commented from up in the air "somehow I cannot imagine your grandmother wearing that."

"Oh shoes, that reminds me…" Rose said mostly to herself, ignoring Tammy. She took a small box out of her pocket and enlarged it with her wand.

Marlene dumped unceremoniously on the ground "We get shoes?" she squealed.

"Yes, dragon skin boots. Watertight, fireproof…" Rose handed a pair of purple boots to Lily that went all the way up to her knees. Dorcas got a similar pair in black. Tammie's jeans were shorts now and of a solid, but more giving material than denim. Her fringed top had tightened into a knot on the side. She got blue ankle boots. Marlene's were ankle boots as well in a deep green color.

"Look how well they go with my outfit." She stretched out her leg to show off the shoe easily, now that her long brown skirt had one long slit up the side and the strings that tied it together were now tiny ropes. Her strappy top looked like it was made of a new fabric, like Lily's shirt and Dorcas' that also now had long, flowing sleeves.

"These are your uniforms," Rose told them and handed them all a quiver to tie around their leg which was fitted for their wands "they work as armor, able to hold up against your own elements and warn off some attacking spells. Now to your wings. Air has always mastered flying greater than other Guardians. You will improve a little with time, but you will never be able to fly great distances or carry too heavy objects. Right now you probably wouldn't be able to lift anything but yourself."

Lily nodded "I can tell, my back is already sore." Marlene agreed with her while Tammy furrowed her brows "I don't feel tired at all."

Rose considered her thoughtfully "Maybe you have an affinity for air. Our bloodlines are very old, it's possible yours and Cassidy's have crossed in the past. Now, enough talk. Put you wands in your quivers and get in touch with your elements."

They asked her how and it didn't come as easily to Marlene and Dorcas as it did to Tammy who soon could command little puddles of water with ease. Lily had no element, but she tried focusing on water and imitated Tammy's tricks, on a less impressive scale.

Marlene managed to grow roots that cracked through the bricks of the Potters' terrace and closed around Tammy's right ankle. She sent a spray of water at Marlene, breaking her concentration so she could get free. Dorcas set the roots on fire.

"You can manipulate your elements without using your wands, but you still need to practice your spells." Rose reminded Lily and Tammy who shrugged their shoulders. At that moment they felt it was easier commanding the elements than magic.

"Lily … LILY!" Rose had to raise her voice to get Lily's attention. Tammy had exploited her flying advantage to dodge an 'attack' from Dorcas so Lily had set off after her. She lost control, turned upside-down and had to break her landing with her hands.

"Yes grandma?"

"Remember your most important job as Guardians is closing the portals. To do that you have to hold the Heart up to the portal. You can also open portals, but only in an extreme emergency. It makes the veil more vulnerable and it will drain your energy." She patted her granddaughter on her head, torn between being proud or scared for her.

Lily was getting an inkling as to why being keeper of the Heart was as big a job as commanding an element.

Some of the Order members that were back from missions or hadn't left yet were watching the young Guardians with much interest, whispering to each other and pointing to their wings. For the first time the girls began feeling like a team when they could tell that people around them were considering them to be different.

"Maybe we should find somewhere else to practice." Tammy quietly suggested and Rose agreed, helping the girls past the security wards. She stayed back to let them try out their powers on their own.

The four girls went to an undesirable part of town, figuring it would supply them with some privacy, and did have time to duel a bit in an alley but when the first rat scurried by Dorcas proclaimed she was out of there.

It was getting later and darker so they all agreed to go back to Headquarters, but planned to get started early the next day.

**A/N: **I know the wings and the veil and commanding elements deviates from the Potter universe, but it is an AU story and I've done my best to fit it in as much as possible. Please review.


	3. Rescuing The Leader

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or W.I.T.C.H

**Rebelling For Love**

_Chapter Three_

**Rescuing the Leader**

The sun had barely risen the next day when Lily, Marlene, Tammy and Dorcas were headed for a nearby beach where Dorcas remembered having seen a cave they could practice their powers in private. Marlene complained the entire way about not getting her beauty sleep.

Tammy, who wasn't an early riser either, hadn't even bothered to come up with a scathing comeback, she just yawned and occasionally rolled her eyes.

Dorcas was showing them the way, but Lily was right by her side, eager to get started. The night before she had accidentally wandered into a room that functioned as a kind of infirmary for the Order if someone got hurt in a way that would make Healers or mediwitches at St. Mungos suspicious. She had discovered that knowing magic wasn't by any means a guarantee that she couldn't get hurt. Badly.

Finally they reached the cave and Lily was pleasantly surprised. It was dark and damp, but the ceiling was higher than she had expected and the raw nature would hold up well against fire. With the ocean right outside and a bit of wildlife everyone had a chance to train.

After uniting them, Lily tried to practice her Air capabilities but after several embarrassing attempts she had to admit it was probably the element she was the least connected to. Dorcas chuckled while Marlene sat on a rock and posed "We're having a group photo taken of the Order today." she gushed and ran a hand through her hair.

Tammy used her bare hands to lift some seawater out of the ocean and manipulated it into the haughty profile of Marlene, with one glaring mistake though.

"I give you, Marlene!" Tammy proudly presented her work.

Marlene crossed her arms "Urgh, thanks for the nose." – her water profile had a huge bump where in reality Marlene had perfectly smooth, classical features.

"Marlene with a broken nose." Tammy corrected herself, still using a presenter's voice. Her stomach growled loudly and she lost her concentration, dropping all of the water straight on the floor of the cave. The loud splash startled a few dozen bats that had been hiding in the dark and suddenly flew around them before fleeing the cave.

Dorcas would've done the same thing if it hadn't meant that she'd had to go the same way as the bats as there was only one way out of the cave.

Her voice shook "Bats are more afraid of us than we are of them, right?"

Clearly unhappy with the fact that half of the water had been dumped on her, ruining her hairstyle, Marlene snorted "In your case Dorcas, I think it might be a toss-up."

Tammy ignored both of them "I'm starving, I wish I had a big sugary doughnut."

Lily held up her hands to quiet the girls "Enough about bats and doughnuts, it's time for magic practice." She rubbed her hands together, trying to get everyone excited again "Are you guys ready to jam?"

Tammy sighed dreamily "Jam doughnuts."

"Shush!" Lily commanded and pulled out her wand.

They split up into pairs to duel each other and for a moment Lily thought she might be able to win a couple of rounds until Marlene brought her element into play as well, lifting a root here and there to trip Lily.

Tammy was the last one standing once against Dorcas, but it was probably mostly due to Dorcas' timid personality. As her prize Tammy demanded a lunch break and they took out the sandwiches they'd brought.

While they ate the girls chatted about this and that, getting to know each other better and Marlene tried to persuade the other girls that they should be in their Guardian form in the Order photo.

Lily hesitated, after noticing the way people had looked at them yesterday she wasn't certain that even in this world being able to sprout wings was something to be envied. Tammy changed the subject, trying to teach Dorcas about different Muggle things until Marlene got bored and rudely interrupted her "So I can't decide if I should wear my hair up or down?"

"Oh dear, the conversation has accidentally wandered away from Marlene's life. Whatever were we thinking?" Tammy remarked with ice-cold sarcasm. Lily noticed Marlene's shoulders rise and her fists clenching. It was easy to assume she was all surface, but it was clear she had a flaming temper and an innate stubbornness.

Quickly she butted in, hoping to avoid an argument "These sandwiches are really delicious, huh?"

Dorcas quickly nodded, looking from Marlene to Tammy to see if the danger had blown over. Both girls reluctantly praised their food and it was quiet for a moment until Tammy couldn't resist temptation "But the important thing is how Marlene is enjoying her food."

Standing up in one swift motion, Marlene declared she was heading back to get ready for the picture "Are you coming Dorcas?"

Dorcas wrapped up the leftover food and hurried with Marlene "You two should stay here and practice for a bit more." It was clear she was telling Lily it was better if she and Tammy waited so Tammy and Marlene got some time apart.

As soon as they were out of hearing range Lily glared at Tammy "You two have to work out your issues, we're a team."

"We're not a team," Tammy stated "we've only just met these girls."

"We have to trust each other with our lives, so of course we are a team, Tammy!" Lily rarely raised her voice at Tammy, but she was infuriating her and she was thinking it was a good thing they had changed back from their Guardian form before Marlene and Dorcas left in case one of them really lost their temper.

"With our lives," Tammy childishly mimicked "we don't even know if there's anything really dangerous in this messed up place."

Lily stuck out her foot "We are wearing _dragon _skin boots! Shouldn't that tell you enough?"

Tammy giggled and Lily couldn't keep a smile back either. It was the stressful situation that had them lash out at each other and Tammy promised to behave nicer with Marlene. They stepped outside to keep practicing. It was clear a big responsibility lay on their shoulders and both girls wanted to live up to it.

Getting their wands ready, Lily wanted to try her hand at levitation again. Her aim needed improvement as she accidentally dropped a lot of garbage on Tammy who by pure instinct turned and hit Lily with a huge spray of water so she fell to the ground.

Just as Tammy was helping Lily back up a bright blue light appeared, blinding them until it died down a little. Instantly Lily knew a portal had opened, but she barely had time to see what was through the blue circle, that really did look like a rip in a veil, before a guy around her own age came flying out of it, badly bruised and bleeding. He had jet black hair and wore black pants, heavy dragon skin boots and a long, brown leather jacket.

It was all they had time to notice before a giant green snake, about three times their own size, appeared. He had manlike features as well, a snakes tail with yellow markings, but a defined abdomen and muscles as well as strong arms with claws for fingers. His head was green, but still looked startling like a human's, with grey eyes, pointed features and long, blonde hair.

He was only half out of the portal, but now had a grip on the guy. Lily stumbled back on her feet, searching for the Heart.

"Guardians unite!" she yelled, unsure if it would work when they weren't all together.

Tammy screamed at her "No, Lily, just close the portal, we don't need to unite for that!" but it was too late and they underwent their transformation. It did buy them some time though as the snake thing seemed confused by their new appearances. Immediately Tammy used her wings to take off, but the snake used his tail to swat her away like she was just an annoying insect and he slithered back through the portal, the now unconscious guy still in his claws, which closed behind him.

Lily rushed to Tammy's side to make sure she wasn't hurt, her heart beating wildly in her chest. She had been frozen with fear and now it was too late to do anything.

"That … that thing took him! Why didn't you close the portal before that snake thing got a hold of that guy?" Tammy accused Lily who quietly clutched the Heart. They agreed to get back to the Potter mansion immediately, but were scared to change back from their guardian form so even though the weather was warm they put on the cloaks they'd borrowed from Marlene and Dorcas. In crowded cities they veil were thinner and they couldn't risk getting seen with wings by a Muggle.

As soon as they got back they looked for Rose, Dorcas and Marlene without bothering to change out of their Guardian form. Out of breath and, in Lily's case, with tears in her eyes they tried to explain everything that had happened at the beach.

Rose listened carefully and suddenly looked her age "Ah, you've met Lucius Malfoy."

Marlene and Dorcas grimaced while Tammy looked outraged "He has a name? That thing?"

"Lucius is not always in this form." Rose explained.

"Well, that's good news for his wife." Tammy scowled and in pure indignation over what had happened her wings fluttered and she hovered a bit over ground "We have to go to Meridian right now and save that guy."

"Whoah, slow down Tinkerbell! We can rescue this guy after Picture Day, right?" Marlene demanded.

Tammy landed again and obviously had to restrain herself and remember her promise to Lily.

Dorcas spoke up "Call me a wimp, but in the Order's picture I'd like to still have a face."

"Forget Picture Day!" Tammy told Dorcas and Marlene "I don't care about what I look like, I care about who I am. Let's go kick some Meridian butt." She glanced thoughtfully at Marlene and tried a new approach "Maybe there'll be some cute evil boys over there."

Lily thought her sales pitch might have worked until Tammy thoughtlessly added "Like the one that snake-thing caught!"

The three girls glanced at Lily and whether she wanted it or not they considered her as their leader and she would have to make a decision "I want to go, but I don't know how much help we're going to be by soaking him and covering him with garbage."

Rose put an arm around her shoulders "You are more powerful than you give yourself credit for."

"I hope so," Tammy cheekily remarked "if we have to take out both Malfoy and Lord Moldyvort."

"You mean Lord Voldemort." Lily corrected her with exasperation.

Marlene glared at Lily with wide eyes while Dorcas covered her ears with her hands "Please don't say his name."

"Well, what are we supposed to call him? You Know Who?" Tammy rolled her eyes.

"We usually refer to him as He Who Must Not Be Named." Rose explained "By now Malfoy will probably have informed him that the Guardians have been found. I think it's time you go to Meridian and rescue the rebel leader there."

"What about that guy Malfoy took?" Tammy demanded to know.

Rose looked at her sadly before she walked away to find Dumbledore and the four girls were left in each other's company, scared about what was to come. Lily and Tammy changed back and they all agreed to get into some warmer clothes and quickly grab something to eat.

Lily put on the woolen skirt she had worn the day before, a long-sleeved shirt, tights and her new boots. Her hands shook when she fastened the quiver for her wand around her leg and hid the Heart underneath her shirt, preferring to keep it close to her own heart.

Usually the Order tried to stick to a meal plan as much as possible because of the large amount of people coming and going at the Potters', but because this was an unscheduled mission the house elves kindly served the Guardians hot shepherd's pie and pumpkin juice. Lily picked at her food even though she knew she ought to eat something, after all she didn't know when she would get a chance again. She grabbed a dinner roll, but it turned to crumbs between her jittery fingers.

They waited for Rose to return with Dumbledore in silence.

0o0

When James woke up the first thing he noticed was that he had been moved. He was curled up on a dank, circular stone floor. The second thing was the smell, it was overpowering and nauseating, smelling something like garbage left out in the sun and the Gryffindor locker room after a particularly rough Quidditch match.

Groggily he got on his feet and looked around his new prison. He wasn't in a cell anymore, but in what appeared to be a bottom of an eight yards hole which couldn't be more than nine feet wide. There were shackles on wall, but they hadn't bothered with locking him up. Probably because there was no ladder or other way of escape.

He didn't have his wand on him and the only other thing near him besides the shackles was a loaf of moldy bread.

"Want trade?" a squeaky voice sounded near him and James turned on his foot, surprised that someone else was down there.

A small green creature, the cause of the horrific smell, with short legs, thin arms and a square head reached out for the bread but James slapped his hand away "Don't you steal from me."

"Blunk not steal, _trade. _Rat for bread? Good deal, yes?" the creature held up a dead rat by its tail.

James quietly watched him, racking his brain to find out what was so familiar about him "Blunk? You're that smuggler!" it dawned on him. While out on his mission he'd heard tales of this Passling who abused his powers of being able to travel through the Veil and sniff out open Portals to retrieve Muggle things and selling them in Meridian to the highest bidder. Blunk crossed his arms and looked offended "Businessman." he insisted.

"Whatever," James waved him off turning towards the oubliette wall "I'm getting out of here now. I've been in tougher places than this. Okay, not smellier." His calloused fingers found the smallest deviation in the stones while he searched for somewhere he could plant his feet to set off.

Savoring the moldy bread, Blunk shook his head "Too high. Never make it."

James ignored his despondent tone "Have you even triiiieee…" he lost what little grip he had and fell straight back on the floor next to Blunk who was now inspecting the rat with a hungry look "3700 times."

Snapping the rat out of his hands James glared at the Passling "New plan, I grab you and throw you over the edge. You then find a rope and help me up."

"Good plan." Blunk nodded.

Rubbing his temples James shook his head "No, terrible plan, but even if you betray me at least it'll smell better down here."

He lifted Blunk off the ground and tried to get a sense of how much he weighed versus how high he'd have to throw him. Planting his feet good and well on the floor and leaning back a little James flung Blunk as high as he could.

Blunk shot straight into the side of the hole and fell to the ground with a loud 'thud'. He grabbed his head and looked dizzy "Terrible plan." he whined.

0o0

When Rose had showed up with Dumbledore he had, by means unknown to them, explained them the way to an open portal and given them a few instructions, like waiting for as long as possible before changing into their Guardian form as it would be easier for Lord Voldemort to find them.

Unfortunately the portal to Meridian was in a sewer. Reluctantly the girls had climbed down the man-hole only to land in sewage to their shins. Tammy thought Marlene would complain, but it was Dorcas who shivered and tiptoed through the mess "Great. Bat-caves, rat-infested alley and now sewer-diving."

They didn't have to walk long before they found the portal, its blue light giving it away. They hesitated for a moment until Lily took off the Heart of Kandrakar and handed it to Tammy "I'll go through first. Keep this safe in case something's on the other side waiting for us. Wait five minutes before you follow me, if there is something there I'll try do distract it."

They didn't even have time to protest before Lily was absorbed by the portal. Time was going by slowly while Marlene worked herself into a panic spiral "I'm far too pretty to become snake food. Forget Lucius Malfoy, they say You Know Who has a real pet snake!"

Tammy rolled her eyes at Marlene referring to Voldemort as You Know Who while Dorcas impatiently hopped from one foot to another, apparently more scared of bacteria than Meridian "I'm going to go through now. I'll let you know if it's safe, if I can."

"Wait!" Marlene shouted, but Dorcas was also gone now. She turned towards Tammy as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders "If I'm last, I'll chicken out …push me."

"My pleasure." Tammy smirked.

The only waited a little longer for a sign from Dorcas before green sparks suddenly appeared before them. After discussing it back and forth Tammy chose to interpret it as a good sign, but Marlene wasn't convinced "You know I was wrong, I should go last."

"No you were right, I should push you." Tammy said and shoved Marlene through the portal before following after her. They were still in water, due to shove Marlene was actually face-first in the water, but that's where the resemblance stopped.

Meridian was dark, cold and looked as if it had been forgotten in time. They were standing in a creek that ran into a nearby city. Further off in the city they could make out the shape of a towering castle.

Lily and Dorcas were waiting for them by the bank of the creek, Dorcas using her superior fire skills to perform drying spells. Marlene got up, spat some of the muddy water out of her mouth and glared at Tammy with her wand drawn.

It didn't exactly improve her mood that the other three girls had a hard time not cracking up over her appearance, drenched from head to toe and covered in sewage, mud and algae.

"Marlene, don't look down." Tammy advised her.

She lowered her wand and rolled her eyes while doing her trademark hair-toss. A few tadpoles flew from it, but luckily she didn't notice "That's for heights, you dead-wit!"

"I know," Tammy did an imitation of Marlene and sauntered out of the dirty water "but if you see your reflection you might completely freak out."

Lily and Dorcas had to pry them apart and remind them they were on a time sensitive, dangerous mission. They decided to follow the creek into town and hoped it also showed them a way to the castle where they figured the rebel leader would be. To their luck it did and so far they hadn't encountered any dangers.

"This is too easy." Tammy whispered when the only thing keeping them out of the castle were three simple iron bars, allowing the water to flow out.

They hadn't needed to unite so Dorcas pulled out her wand and melted the iron so it gave just enough to let them slide in.

They were in a maze of underground tunnels, poorly lit by torches seared to the walls. The girls pressed up against the wall and all walked behind each other, weaving in and out of the difficult maze, hoping there was an easier way out. And that they would need to find a way out.

When they heard voices nearby they were almost relieved, it _had_ seemed too easy up until now and they had also been lost.

"Our Lord wants the rebel leader to be presented to him later." They heard a man's voice say with spiteful glee. Whoever he talked to laughed cruelly "I hope we get to watch."

The girls stared at each other and Lily had almost given up already "How are we going to find him before they move him?" she whispered. Tammy and Dorcas shrugged their shoulders helplessly while Marlene lit up "Well I have sort of an idea, oh don't look so surprised!" she immediately told Tammy before Marlene raised her hands and gave Lily a hard push so she fell around a corner and right in front of the two Death Eaters they'd heard.

"Intruder!" one of them called and grabbed Lily immediately who screamed and struggled futilely.

Tammy had drawn her wand ready to kill Marlene, until the Death Eater added "Enjoy your last hour with your precious rebel leader."

Marlene smiled superiorly "See, now they get Lily straight to the rebel leader, she guardians up, brings him here and we'll be back in time for picture day."

Tammy tugged the neckline of her t-shirt down "Except I have the Heart you idiot!"

0o0

"Come on," James tried to sway Blunk to let him throw him one last time "I'll be ready to catch you this time." He spread out his arms to show him how he would be prepared when he heard a piercing scream and only had time to look up before a young girl fell right into his arms, knocking both of them to the floor.

Lily blinked a couple of times, clearing her vision before she cried out "You're the kid from the beach!"

James at first thought she might have hit her head, but there was something recognizable about her and he had landed on a beach during his attempt to flee "You're not one of the Guardians I saw. Where's you older sister?" he thought he had figured it out.

She was about to deny knowing anything about any Guardians when she realized something "Wait! You're the "rebel leader" I'm supposed to be saving? What are you rebelling against, diaper rash?" she had not expected a leader to be her age.

"Ey, girly girl I'm seventeen. Never mind that, just activate the crystal and get us out of here." He had been told the legend of the Guardians and knew about the Heart of Kandrakar and its powers.

Lily looked sheepish "I didn't exactly bring it."

"You didn't exactly bring it?" James grabbed his hair in frustration and looked around for something to take out his anger on. Blunk wisely scurried behind Lily.

She plugged her nose "Who's your friend?"

"He's not my friend." James dismissed her, his mind already trying to form a new escape plan.

"Blunk is Passling. Trader." He pointed at his chest with his thumb proudly. Lily gulped down air, but she could almost taste how bad he smelled.

"Since you didn't bring the crystal, how did you plan on getting out of here?" James wanted to know. Lily was already annoyed with his arrogant attitude "Well, the other Guardians are here as well. But one of them kind of sacrificed me to the Death Eaters."

James rolled his hazel eyes "So since mutiny didn't work, let's try my plan." He sunk to his knee and formed a step with his folded hands.

"What are you doing?"

"Look it's simple, you stand on my shoulders, then he," he pointed at Blunk "stands on your shoulders."

"Not until he's had a nine-month bath he doesn't!" Lily crossed her arms and turned her back to James, defiantly.

"Girls! I need a rope, some kind of weapon and what do I get? A short redhead with attitude!" James ranted.

Lily faced him again "Hey, I'm a Guardian of the Veil buddy, you're just some guy at the bottom of a hole."

"Psst," Someone whispered and Lily looked up to see the pink glow from the Heart "somebody missing this?" Tammy whispered.

"Tammy? It's me, throw it down here." Lily wanted to know how she had found them, if there were any guards, if maybe something nasty had eaten Marlene, but the most important thing was getting the Heart back.

As soon as she had it, she felt safer. The Death Eaters might have taken her wand but, though her powers were connected to it, she'd rather they had that than the Heart.

"Guardians unite!"

James struggled not to look too impressed while Blunk tried getting his hands on the crystal.

"Finally!" Tammy sighed, but her tone quickly changed "Uh, it sounds like Marlene and Dorcas might be in trouble, can you fly out of there?"

"I think so, but there's an issue. The rebel leader is down here. He's too heavy to lift out; his mouth alone must weigh 200 pounds." Lily remarked. James shot her an annoyed look.

"Okay, get up here, I have an idea." Tammy urged her on and though she felt a little bad about it Lily set off, leaving James and Blunk at the bottom of the pit. As soon as she was by Tammy's side she was exhausted after having used her wings.

Tammy used both her wand and element powers to fill the pit with water so James and Blunk could float to the top. As soon as James came in view Tammy recognized him and blurted out "Hey, you didn't get eaten by that thing!"

Despite the situation James shot her a cocky smile and Lily scowled at him. They helped him and Blunk over the edge and Tammy pointed at an archway "We came from there, let's go."

"Blunk come with?"

Tammy tilted her head to the side "He's kind of cute."

James muttered "Girls!"

"Hey," Lily interrupted them "anybody trapped in here has to be on the good side, right?"

Tammy nodded and James opened his mouth to say something, but Lily beat him to it "I was complimenting Blunk, not you. Now let's move."

They had barely gotten a few feet when Dorcas rushed to meet them "We are in serious trouble! Oh, hi!" Dorcas noticed James.

"What kind of trouble?" James cut right to the point.

"Well Marlene tried to grow some roots to take out a couple of trolls that were standing guard, and she did, but … well she kind of managed to also somehow plant herself in the soil. And I accidentally burned down that bridge we came over on so we have no way out of here." Dorcas explained.

James looked between the three girls in disbelief "This is a rescue? I was safer as a prisoner!"

Tammy took charge "Look, I can get Marlene free, you guys look for another way out."

"Blunk knows way, trade map once." Blunk informed them and Dorcas shrieked and jumped back "Ew, what is that?"

"Our new guide." Tammy established in a no-nonsense tone before she hurried away to help Marlene. Blunk began knocking on the walls here and there, looking for their escape route.

"Can we trust him?" Dorcas wondered.

Both James and Lily shrugged their shoulders, but lit up when Blunk opened a secret passage "This way out."

James and Dorcas darted inside while Lily reminded them they still had to wait for Marlene and Tammy.

"THESE WERE BRANDNEW BOOTS!" they heard Marlene yell.

"I think they're coming." Dorcas said.

Once they were inside the secret passage, Tammy explained "I had to turn the soil to mud to get her free, she didn't take too kindly to it."

When the passage parted in three they all looked to Blunk for help "This way to kitchen," he pointed to the right "this way to throne room," he pointed at the middle "and this way is out." He pointed to the left.

The Guardians and Blunk headed left while James walked towards the middle tunnel, leading to the throne room. Lily grabbed his shoulders "Wrong way, diaper guy, we came here to rescue you, remember?"

"I have a mission to complete as well, it'll be a good distraction. Besides, Guardians of the Veil are more important than one rebel fighter. Oh, by the way, my name is James." He shot her a smile before running down the middle way and left a confused Lily.

"Swoon alert." Marlene dryly commented but Lily shook it off "Come on, I've had enough of this place."

For a long time they walked down the passage, wondering where they would end up, if it would lead them out, if James would make it out, if Lord Voldemort had sensed they were in their Guardian form…

Blunk showed them the way, stopping every once in a while to sniff the air. After the fourth time Tammy asked him what he was doing "Blunk a Passling. Passlings can smell."

"Whew, boy is that an understatement!" Tammy commented.

Unfortunately Blunk didn't smell any Portals nearby so they continued their walk until Marlene thought she heard something. They discarded it as paranoia and walked a bit further, but then Dorcas heard it as well.

Hissing.

"It's the snake." Marlene cried, drawing her wand quickly. Tammy and Dorcas did the same, and Lily made the motion, but then remembered some Death Eater had it somewhere.

The other girls bravely formed a half circle around her to keep her safe.

But it wasn't Voldemort's pet snake like Marlene had feared, it was Lucius Malfoy in his snake form and determined not to lose to him again Lily cried out "Fire!"

"Me?" Dorcas checked.

"Everbody!" Lily instructed and Tammy and Marlene used their wands to launch an attack while Lily and Dorcas used their hands to manipulate the element. It was risky in the narrow passage, but it also made it harder for Malfoy to evade their attack because he was so much bigger than them. He raised his spiky tail and shot poisonous pins after them. Marlene tried to use her power to raise any kind of shield between them, but there was no wildlife to manipulate. They continued attacking him with fire while Tammy slowed the speed of his poisonous pins with water.

Even though they were losing ground to Malfoy, Tammy courageously took a step forward "Come on, I'll make a purse out of you, which side do you want the zipper on?"

He turned his head in her direction and smiled cruelly, but it ended up serving them well because just then James came flying out from a slide behind another hidden passage in the wall and shot straight into Malfoy.

He threw Lily's wand to her and had gotten his own back as well, ropes shooting out from the end of it and tying up Malfoy.

"That's what I call a distraction!" Tammy cheered.

"I can't hold him much longer, find a way out!" James got out through his gritted teeth. This passageway ended with a hatch on the side of the castle, high above the moat that surrounded it.

"All right, my time to shine." Marlene insisted and from the little grapevines growing on the outside of the castle she made a vine grow to other side of the moat where it fastened itself around a tree stub. They could take hold of it and use it to slide down.

As soon as they had the ground under their feet Lily acted like their leader again "Blunk, find a portal, girls go through it, I'm going back for James."

"No!" Tammy said "I fly better than you. Well, actually, chickens fly better than you and you'll have to open a portal if we can't find one." She took off before Lily could say anything.

Marlene took her hand "She's right, let's find a way home. And I'm sorry I did what I did, but I thought it was a good idea."

"Don't get sappy on me now, we have work to do." Lily declared, letting her know all would be forgiven if they just got out of Meridian.

From the outside magic hid the hatch they'd escaped through from the naked eye and Tammy flitted about, trying to pinpoint where it could've been, but she didn't have to look for long before James was flung out of there by Malfoy's tail.

She just barely caught him in the air "Surprise! Wow, you're heavy." She hadn't flown for this long, holding anything before so it was a struggle, but she tried not to let it show as Malfoy and surely more creatures would be coming after them if they didn't hurry "So do you have a girlfriend, 'cause I think Lily likes you?"

A bridge was lowered from the castle and quite right, with Malfoy in the lead a lot of bad guys were flooding out of the castle.

Tammy crashed to the ground with James "Lily, open a portal, now!"

Holding up the Heart Lily focused on getting everyone home and 'ripped' the veil to create a Portal. She really did feel drained and only through a blurry vision did she keep her focus on getting everyone, including Blunk, through the portal. James pulled her with him and on the other side she closed the portal again before passing out.

When she regained consciousness she thought she was still dreaming "Are we in…?"

"Yup," Tammy answered darkly before Lily could even ask the question "we're in our school. In the summer! I almost long for Meridian."

James was impressed by that statement "What dangers are in this place?"

"Well," Tammy considered it "there's the cafeteria food."


	4. Pretty As a Picture

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter, W.I.T.C.H or The O.C.

**Rebelling For Love**

_Chapter Four_

**Pretty As a Picture**

Neither the Guardians nor James could explain why Lily's portal had brought them into the Muggle world and more specifically, her school.

"Maybe you just thought of home?" Dorcas suggested and helped Lily sit up while she regained some of the power she'd spent on opening a portal.

"And we wound up at _school_?" Tammy was outraged at the comparison.

"Institute," James corrected her and pointed up at a sign "the sign says 'Sheffield Institute'."

Marlene crossed her arms and smirked at Tammy "I'm not surprised."

She shrugged in return, refusing to take Marlene's bait "What can I say, it's Heatherfield's finest."

"What happened to Blunk?" Lily wondered, pressing the back of her hand against her forehead in a feeble attempt to cope with her dizziness.

"You mean Slim-o-creep? He disappeared into the pipes." Marlene waved in a general direction of the school.

"If he comes up under the girls' locker room, I'm switching schools." Tammy declared.

Once Lily could walk in a straight line again they set off to get back to the Potter mansion. James naturally took charge and made them leave Heatherfield on foot so they didn't risk a bus driver or anybody else seeing Lily and Tammy who were supposedly away at summer camp.

Tammy helped him find back alleys and wooded areas to sneak through town. James moved at a rapid pace trying to find out how much money, Muggle or Wizarding, they collectively had on them. His plan was to first get them to London, get them through the Veil at the opening at King's Cross Station and once in the magical world get a hold of the Knight bus to take them to Portishead. He was frustrated at spending this much time getting back after having been in captivity in Meridian for so long and shot Lily a dirty look.

Lily could tell he wasn't happy and it annoyed her. She had after all saved them back in Meridian by opening a portal and it was her first try. She didn't let him know he was getting to her though, she was feeling so weak that keeping up was all she could concentrate about.

"When Dumbledore first brought us to the Headquarter we used this old soda can to travel, can't we do that?" Tammy asked and ignored Marlene snorting at her ignorance.

"That's called a Portkey, you can't just make those. And you can't use that or Apparition through the Veil, unless you're a house-elf or a Passling. You can't use it at Headquarters grounds either, unless you're Dumbledore." James grouchily explained.

Tammy considered that information for a second "What's Apparition then?" while James and Marlene educated her about it Dorcas fell back a little to walk with Lily who was looking pale and grinding her teeth.

When they reached Eckington, where they were hoping to catch a train, Lily passed out from exhaustion. It took Lily so long to regain her consciousness that Tammy started to get scared and James regretted he'd pushed on so furiously. Finally her eyes fluttered open and she was relieved to find she was lying in the cooling shadow of a tree and Marlene and Dorcas had bought some bottled water from a nearby convenience store. They let her drink as much as she wanted before passing the rest of it between them.

"See," Tammy said after she'd gulped down the water "this is why you guys need electricity, we could've used a payphone to get someone to pick us up."

James ignored her and ruffled his hair "If only we had an owl."

"Sure, an owl beats a telephone any day."

Lily groaned and everyone quieted and looked in her direction "Can you all please stop arguing for five minutes?" she was about to add another scolding when tires screeching and loud honking sounded. They pulled Lily to her feet as they couldn't afford getting too much attention from Muggles.

A cab pulled up next to them "Yo, want ride?" Blunk hung out of the window to wave at them.

"Blunk? You stole a," James paused and read the sign on top of the car "taxi?"

Just like in the pit, Blunk looked offended at being accused of stealing "Not steal. At hotel, hear people say, 'Take taxi.' so, Blunk take taxi!"

"And James take taxi back to hotel." James insisted, opening the door to coach Blunk out of the vehicle. He was about to slide into the front seat when Tammy stopped him "Do you have cars in your world?"

"No," James shrugged "but how hard can it be?"

"Right, get out, I'm driving. How about we take a detour to Portishead?" Tammy suggested. James would've protested, but he knew it was the fastest and easiest way to get home, and moving Lily any other way would be difficult. He and Blunk got in next to Tammy, who rolled all the windows down so they could bear Blunk's stench.

Marlene and Dorcas helped Lily into the backseat while Marlene's eyes shot daggers at Tammy "A few days with you and I'm a criminal, I knew you'd be a bad influence!"

Tammy checked the dashboard to see how much gas was in it and slowly started driving. Her brother had taken her out a few times and she felt sure she knew enough to get them back safely, but she'd prefer to do it in a steady pace to be certain she didn't hit anyone or make any passing policemen look long enough to wonder why a young girl had taken up chauffeuring.

They lucked out with traffic, but the drive still lasted three and a half hours. Tammy had turned on the radio and pretty soon she had everyone, except Lily who had fallen asleep near Birmingham, singing along to ABBA and Rod Stewart. It was a testament to Lily's fatigue that Blunk's singing didn't wake her up.

They left the car across town and James ventured to cast a spell, cleaning it of any evidence they had been there. They left what Muggle money they had and hid the keys under the floor mat, hoping it would be returned to its owner somehow.

Lily felt refreshed after her nap and didn't mind walking across town to an abandoned railway station that had an opening in the Veil, allowing them to enter the magical world. From there it wasn't too far to the Potters' mansion.

An entire night had passed while they had been in Meridian and now almost a day had gone by as well. Their bodies were aching and all of them were hungry, especially James who hadn't been properly fed or slept well during his captivity. Lily sneaked a glance at him; he certainly looked like the image of a rebel, emaciated with unruly hair, torn clothes made for battle, scars and scrapes after his fight with Malfoy.

"How did you become the leader of a rebellion at your age?" Lily finally asked him.

"I'm not the leader, Dumbledore is." James stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "I'm the leader of the Meridian rebellion."

They were almost back at the Potter mansion. A shudder went through Lily "I'm sorry you wound up there."

James looked at her over his shoulder with a gleam in his eyes "I volunteered."

"Why would you volunteer for that horrible place?" Tammy interfered.

"I agree with Tammy," Lily said "it's dark and scary, filled with evil and lowlife scum,"

Turning around in an instant James shouted at her "Not everyone in Meridian is like that! Good people are trapped there, forced to labor for He Who Must Not Be Named. You don't know what you're talking about."

He had gotten them through the Order's security wards and could see his home now, but he ignored his childish impulse to run there, he just quickened his pace and left the girls behind.

Marlene looked at Tammy and Lily "Guess where James' ancestors are from."

Despite her dislike for him, Lily enjoyed seeing James with his parents. Instead of being that cocky rebel leader she had met, he was a little boy again, so eager to see them that he didn't notice he trekked mud behind him all the way to a sitting room.

The girls let the Potters have their moment in private, but it wasn't long before they were invited inside the sitting room for a celebratory butterbeer. They toasted James and also the Guardians for bringing him back safely. Lily tried to refuse, but Mr. and Mrs. Potter weren't having it.

Mr. and Mrs. Potter left to notify some Order members that James was safely back and an uncomfortable silence fell over the room, but it wasn't long before Sirius and Remus burst through the door and cheered at the sight of James with a pudgy boy in tow.

All of the guys patted each other on the back and James and Sirius kept their arms around the other's shoulder while the pudgy boy introduced himself to Lily and Tammy as Peter Pettigrew.

For a while they all chatted, James telling about his captivity and the Guardians about their rescue until Mr. and Mrs. Potter returned to the sitting room "James, we need to talk to Sirius."

"Okay," James and everyone but Sirius got up to leave "if this has to do with the rug though, I just wanted to tell you that Sirius had nothing to do with it."

Mrs. Potter hadn't stopped smiling since James' return, but the corners of her mouth turned down and her eyebrows raised at the sight of her son's muddy shoes "What about the rug?"

"I'm gonna go now." James hurried out and Lily as the last one carefully closed the door behind her. The lock had only just clicked before James was pressing his ear against it, trying to hear his parents' conversation with Sirius.

"So mature." Marlene rolled her eyes.

After about fifteen minutes Sirius joined them with a dazed look "My uncle died."

Dorcas gasped, Marlene dropped her attitude, Tammy squeezed his hand and Lily offered her condolences. James, Remus and Peter seemed to take the news more calmly "A Black uncle?"

"Yeah, uncle Alphard. He left me quite an inheritance. The problem is my dear parents are doing everything they can to keep me from getting it; they'll drag it out for as long as possible." Sirius explained.

"So?" Peter squeaked "You'll get the gold eventually right?"

Sirius sighed "I can't impose on James' parents forever."

"Sure you can. I intend to." James shrugged.

"Ever since your parents took me in they've been, like, paying for everything. I can't keep taking their money." Sirius looked discouraged and Lily tried to figure out if the girls should leave while the guys were discussing such a private subject or if she should just keep on staying quiet so they wouldn't think about her presence.

"They're parents, they work for us." James brushed off Sirius' worry once again.

"No," Sirius pointed out "they work for you."

"Look Sirius, think of it this way; eventually you'll be able to pay the Potters back for their kindness." Remus sensibly suggested, ending the discussion.

Later that night the dinner turned into a feast in honor of James' return and soon after butterbeers and Firewhiskey were offered and music played in the formal dining room of the Potter Mansion that was similar to a ballroom.

Tammy and Sirius goofed around on the dance floor after sneaking down a few glasses of whiskey while Lily danced mostly with Remus and Frank Longbottom and even once with Peter who had stuttered when he asked her and then left early.

When Frank was hijacked by his girlfriend Alice and Remus were dancing with Dorcas, Lily found herself looking for James, but he was nowhere to be found. It occurred to her that Dumbledore wasn't present either and Lily's intuition told her she would find the two of them together, taking advantage of the spontaneous party.

On her way out of the dining room she grabbed Marlene "I've got an idea, you have to help me find James and Dumbledore."

"Are you kidding?" Marlene asked, freeing herself from Lily's grip "Gideon and Fabian Prewett just walked in here looking like a million galleons so I'm sticking to them like a Cornish Pixie sticks to ears."

"… Okay I have no idea what you just said, but could you stick to Dorcas instead? I have a feeling something's going on." Lily clutched the Heart to underline her point and pretended not to notice Marlene rolling her eyes before striding across the dance floor and pulling Dorcas away from a very confused Remus "Our leader summons us."

Dorcas looked over her shoulder "What about Tammy?"

"Somehow I don't think bringing Drunky Sue on a stealth mission is the best idea." Marlene nagged, but Lily had to agree with her. After trying a couple of places they found James and Dumbledore in a study that currently functioned as Dumbledore's office. Luckily they hadn't bothered with a Silencing spell, so the girls leaned towards the door to listen in on their conversation.

"Are you quite sure?"

"Yes," James was speaking now "I saw it when I entered the throne room to grab our wands. The Elias van Doge painting was hanging in line with a bunch of others. I don't think He Who Must Not Be Named realized what he opened it up to when he trapped the painter in it."

Lily, Marlene and Dorcas all looked at each other before shuffling closer to the door.

Dumbledore cleared his throat "Can it be used as a passage?"

For a moment James considered his answer "Not for an attack, I think they'd notice if suddenly the entire Order was in the painting. But as far as me and Rose could tell, we can enter our Elias van Doge painting here only by using the Heart of Kandrakar while the other one is open to normal magic."

His chair scraped against the floor when he got up "Think about it Sir. We can use it to send the Guardians back and forth between here and Meridian without needing portals."

"It also opens up our headquarter to an attack from the enemy." Dumbledore pointed out.

"Only if they have the Heart." James retaliated.

"Which puts the Guardians in even greater danger."

Lily backed away from the door "Do you guys know where the painting they're discussing is? I'd like to see it."

"And destroy it so our lives are a little bit less doomed, right?" Marlene checked while Dorcas eagerly agreed.

"Hell yes." Lily said, surprising herself. She had a feeling Dumbledore would suggest closing this passageway between Meridian and the Potter mansion, but she wasn't about to sit around and wait for him and James to hash out the details.

Dorcas had been staying with the Order the longest, and she showed them to a sitting room in the west end of the mansion that was almost a gallery. They spread out to search the canvases, big and small. Lily noticed Marlene walking back and forth in front of the same portrait and joined her.

"I think this guy's eyes are following me." Marlene explained.

Lily rolled her eyes "You think every guy's eyes are following you!"

"Girl's over here!" Dorcas cried out and waved them closer. They were looking at a giant landscape painting depicting a small village. At the right bottom corner they made out the signature to say _E. van Doge._

"So what do we do now?" Marlene wanted to know.

Dorcas shrugged while Lily tentatively lifted the Heart and brought it closer to the canvas "Maybe it works just like closing a portal." she suggested. But as soon as the Heart came in contact with the scratchy surface of the painting the girls disappeared from the gallery.

0o0

"James," Dumbledore had risen as well during their discussion "have you forgotten that the Guardians can't unite and use their powers while in the painting? It's too big a risk for them to even enter it …"

0o0

"What happened?" Marlene coughed while struggling to get to her feet after their violent fall "And how does my hair look?" she tugged her fingers through her long, blonde strands.

Lily stretched out her arms in front of her while Marlene helped Dorcas up and took in their suddenly grainy appearance "We're _inside _the painting!"

"Noo …" Dorcas said, dragging the word out while looking at her surroundings. She couldn't very well deny that she was standing in the middle of a seemingly idyllic village from the middle-ages.

"Hello?" a man with black hair to his shoulders and dressed in brown tights and blue, loosely fitted tunic slowly approached them.

Lily noticed how much they stuck out in their modern clothing and got in front of Marlene and Dorcas to shield them off in case the guy was some sort of witch hunter "Hey." She carefully greeted him back.

"Where did you come from? I don't recall painting you."

"Wait, Elias?" Dorcas sidestepped Lily "Elias van Doge?"

The man nodded.

Lily took over "You painted all of this?" she spread out her arms to indicate what she meant by 'this'.

"I did, many years ago. It was a request by the Potter family. Unfortunately the Dark Lord found out and enslaved me while forcing me to paint it's twin. He asked me to have them be connected, but when I told him it wasn't possible he trapped me in here." Elias shook his head sadly.

"But they are connected!" Marlene said.

"I know, I just didn't want the Dark Lord to find that out." Elias explained and his sad expression turned a little bit mischievous. Lily admired the man for this bravery.

"He still doesn't know, that's why we're here. To close the passageway before he finds a way to exploit it." Lily explained.

"Ah," Elias proudly told her "I made it so that from the Potter's painting you can't get in or out without the Heart of Kandrakar."

Lily dangled the Heart in front of him "We know, that's why we're so keen on closing it. If You Know Who finds out he needs the Heart, he'll come for the Heart. Which means he has to go through us." Behind her Dorcas and Marlene nodded to support her story.

Pushing Lily's arms back down Elias looked around in panic "Bad news Guardians. The Dark Lord has his guards stationed in here to make sure I don't escape. That's the only way to effectively seal of the passageway."

"Guards like them?" Dorcas said while pointing a shaking finger at a couple of big goons headed their way.

Elias nodded before setting off in an opposite direction, the girls right at his heels. To their luck he knew his city well and they dodged in an out of houses and around corners. Marlene saw a narrow alley and thought it would slow the guards down, but Elias grabbed her wrist and pulled her in a different direction just in time "No! I painted that way as a dead-end."

After darting inside a house and running up a flight of stairs Lily sank together on the floor, gasping for air "Need. A. Break."

"Don't worry, no one lives in this house. Whenever I need a break from surveillance I sneak in here." Elias told them, gesturing to the simple cot, the easel and other paint supplies in the room "As soon as you've rested you should get back."

Lily shook her head "We're not leaving without you. We're closing this passage and getting you out of here."

"Then you'll need disguises." Elias sensibly said, trying to hide how touched he was by Lily's promise.

Dorcas had already picked up a paintbrush and was one step ahead of him "Maybe something like this?" she showed the girls her sketch of a long flowy dress that looked like the medieval version of their Guardians uniform.

Suddenly the dress disappeared from the canvas, but only to become real right in front of their eyes. Dorcas pulled it on "This is like way the most realistic sketch I ever did!" she cheered.

Lily held the soft fabric between her hands "Holy cow it's real."

Marlene was the one to hit the nail on the head "Everything you paint comes to life!" she handed Dorcas more brushes and bags of paint "Ooh, let's go clothes painting!" she begged.

Chuckling Lily shook her head "I think the wisest thing would be to just paint some simple cloaks that can cover us while we're in our Guardian form."

Dejected Marlene agreed and Lily held out the Heart "Guardians, unite!"

When nothing happened all three girls pulled out their wands and tried different spells, but still nothing happened.

While Lily was convinced their mission now would end up meaning certain death Marlene found a way to turn the situation around by asking Dorcas for a pretty dress. Once all three of them were dressed more appropriately, it took a lot of paint thinner to get Marlene's dress just right, they sat down with Elias to discuss what their next move should be.

Before they could agree on anything though they heard the door open downstairs and the furniture get knocked over or broken. Voldemort's guards had found them.

Silently Elias pointed to the window, climbing out first and agilely dropping onto a lower roof while the girls ripped the sides of their new floor length dresses to allow them to move better. When they climbed out the window the three of them held on to a drainpipe running from the gutter to the ground.

Dorcas climbed out last, she had grabbed all the paint and brushes she could carry, but the extra weight proved too much for the ancient drainpipe and with some loud creaks and squeaks it started loosening from the side of the house.

Lily tried to shimmy down faster, but to no avail and as soon as the drainpipe had torn free from the house it fell straight to the ground with the girls clinging to it for dear life. It was their luck that the guards had rushed to the second floor and noticed them out of the window so they had time to get to their feet.

Ignoring the pain they were in the girls ran again, Elias at the front. Unfortunately it was not only Voldemort's guards after them, but Lucius Malfoy had entered the painting, in his snake form, with Death Eaters in tow.

Their magic didn't work either but they outnumbered the Guardians greatly and their physical strength was much greater as well. And they had brought along some friends.

"Did you paint that and if you did, can you erase it?" Dorcas swallowed audibly.

Scorpion-looking creatures with pointy tails formed an orange trail behind Elias and the Guardians. He turned his head to warn the girls "Morpions! Don't let them bite you."

"Well, duh!" Marlene interjected, while Lily sped up to Elias' side "Why, what happens?"

"They put you to sleep for 24 hours. Let's head to the water, they're afraid of it." Elias took a sharp turn and they almost lost Dorcas in the sudden maneuver.

"Oh-kay," she gasped for air "this is heavy and these dresses aren't practical. Buy me some time and I'll get us to the river faster."

"Buy you time how?!" Marlene demanded to know when Dorcas dropped to the ground and began painting something.

"Like this!" Lily said throwing a bit of paint thinner on the street they'd just crossed. Malfoy and his thugs would have to find a way around the sudden hole and before they did Dorcas had managed to paint a scooter with a sidecar, recreating one that she'd seen when they had been in the Muggle world. Figuring it would be too difficult for Elias to drive, she painted a simple bike for him.

Elias gave them directions on how to get to the river and Lily drove the scooter with Dorcas sitting behind her and a disgruntled Marlene in the sidecar.

Lily didn't park the scooter until they were actually in the water, in case the Morpions were faster than they'd expected. Dorcas jumped out to paint a boat for their escape while they waited for Elias.

"I'm running out of paint, I won't be able to do anything better than a raft."

"Anything will help." Lily told her, while playing with the Heart, praying Lucius Malfoy and his ilk wouldn't get to it.

"So how did Elias luck out?" Marlene asked while pulling herself out of the sidecar and fixing her hair and torn dress.

"It's the man's first bike, I wanted him to ride in style." Dorcas shrugged while putting the finishes touches on their simple raft.

"Where'd you paint the braaaakes?" Eliask shouted while zooming down the hill, right past them and crashing into the water.

Stepping aboard the raft Marlene said "Elias is here, let's get going."

Lily pulled the shaken painter out of the water and onto the raft just in time before Malfoy and company reached the riverbank. Dorcas had smartly painted a simple engine on the raft, but it still wasn't too difficult for the bad guys to keep up along the shore.

Especially since they soon reached the edge of the canvas and ran out of water. Dorcas handed over the steering to Lily and Marlene while she and Elias used the last of the blue paint to stretch out the river.

Arrows started flying past their heads and it dawned on Lily that Malfoy had been prepared enough to bring weapons. Maybe they had counted on the Guardians to enter the painting for a while.

"Guys, we're out of blue paint. All we have left is some black and the paint thinner." Dorcas shouted from the front of the raft.

"Can we sail in tar?" Marlene asked with a defeated sigh, too scared to put any energy into her joke.

Lily got a crazy idea, but it was the only one they had "Get us to the riverbank. This ends now."

Uncertain on whether she was losing her mind or not, Marlene obeyed her and they reached the riverbank, ducking and weaving on the raft to avoid the swarm of arrows. As soon as they had ground underneath their feet again Lily held out the Heart in plain sight and she could see a deranged want in Malfoy's slits of eyes.

"You want it? Come and get it!" She yelled out.

Malfoy slithered closer until Lily held out her other hand "But if you get one inch closer I'm erasing the Heart!" her hand was closed around the paint thinner. And to prove her point she threw a bit at a Meridian ogre, smarter than a 'regular' ogre, blue and with two horns on each side of his head, who disappeared.

Coming to a complete stop Malfoy ordered the rest of his following to do the same.

Lily smirked at him to hide her fear and wondered how long they could keep up this stand-still.

0o0

After reaching an agreement that the painting had to be destroyed with Dumbledore James headed back to the party to find Lily and get her to do it. When he'd spent a good half hour searching for her, he decided to break up Tammy and Sirius' drunken antics to ask her "Tammy, I need your annoying little friend, have you seen where she went?"

Tammy only slurred a little "Lily? No idea, do you _need _her for something _special_?" she tried to waggle her eyebrows as she said it, but she couldn't synchronize it.

Remus overheard their conversation and joined them "I saw her leave with Marlene and Dorcas a while ago. Did something happen?" he frowned.

"I don't know. Did you see where they went?" James rushed through the words.

"No, but it sounded like they were going to look for you." Remus informed him. James' eyes widened while Tammy pouted "They left without me?"

Seeing James' worry she quickly sobered "Spit it out, Potter, what's the problem?"

"If they overheard me and Dumbledore they might have headed to the gallery. Let's go." All four of them ran out of there, Tammy's heart pounding in her chest and panic making her ears ring.

In the gallery James made a beeline for the Elias van Doge painting "Okay, there's scooters. The river is longer and … is that Malfoy? And there's Lily with the Heart."

"Can someone explain this?" Tammy insisted.

"We have to break into the throne room of Voldemort's fortress in Meridian." James brushed her off while muttering to himself.

"In a pinch it has to be the White Knight, you know that's the best play." Sirius said while Remus backed him up.

"You're right. Tammy, are you going with us?"

"Of course, but…" Tammy clutched her head while trying to gather her thoughts.

"_Accio _suits of armor." James shouted before turning his head sideways in Tammy's direction "You might wanna hide."

She just had time to dart behind an armchair before four suits of armor flew into the room.

"I call this one!" Sirius said, grabbing the nearest one.

"You're not serious?" Tammy shouted, no longer on the verge of panicking, but full on freaked out "You want to infiltrate the Lord of Evil's fortress dressed like this?!"

"Uh, yes." Sirius said.

"We do it all the time." Remus assured her.

"Blend right into the décor of the place." James insisted.

"This is ridiculous!" Tammy maintained while struggling to get the armor on.

With the promise of good loot, and a quick flash of the swords strapped to their sides, they managed to persuade Blunk to sniff out a portal for them and it led them directly inside the decaying castle in Meridian.

"Now we get to the throne room." James whispered and they shuffled closer in one line. Every time they heard footsteps they stopped, pretending to be decorative suits of armors and like James had promised, it worked.

"Ridiculous." Tammy still muttered.

"Here it is; the painting." James waited for all of them to gather around "Our magic won't work in there, so have your swords ready."

All of them nodded and when James touched his wand to the painting they disappeared from the throne room without anyone ever seeing them.

0o0

"Guys!" Lily whined "I'm getting a cramp in my turpentine holding hand!" in fact her entire arm was shaking and she could tell by Malfoy's evil grin that he had noticed. Then suddenly as if they dropped from the sky, four literally knights in shining armor appeared between the Guardians and the bad guys, swords wielding from the moment they got on their feet.

Especially one of them destroyed everything in its path.

"Hey," Marlene cried out "I recognize that aggressive behavior! How did Tammy get here?"

Tammy tipped off her helmet "Sir Girlahad at your service."

Remus, Sirius and James continued fighting off the guards and Malfoy while the girls discussed how to get back out of the painting.

James didn't bother turning his head while answering "I've got someone working on that."

Just when they'd gotten a good amount of distance between themselves and Malfoy the hill split down the middle and James shoved the Guardians and Elias down the valley that had been created before jumping in there with the Marauders.

After another falling sensation everyone were back in the gallery at the Potter's with Blunk standing next to the painting, that now had a huge tear in it. Because they'd managed to get Elias out with them, it was now nothing more than a regular painting.

"I say we burn it." Sirius said, struggling for breath after the difficult fight.

James helped Lily to her feet "You're welcome by the way."

Her eyes narrowed "What exactly does that mean? You were prepared to keep this open and use it as a Guardian shuttle to Meridian. Oh yeah, we heard you!"

"So you decided to jump right into it without talking to me or Dumbledore about it first?" James demanded.

"Why Potter, I ought to…"

"Ought to what, Evans? Owe me for life, why yes I couldn't agree more."

"What?!" Tammy, Marlene and Dorcas had to hold Lily back while Sirius and Remus tried to quiet James down and Blunk tried to choose between Elias and the destroyed painting for his loot.

Marlene rubbed her temples as Lily and James kept arguing "Am I the only one missing the Morpions?"

**A/N: **If everyone out there is reading this, please drop a review to let me know! I am pathetically begging and not ashamed to admit it. Well I'm a little ashamed, but I can live with it.


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